OK, alright already, I get it…
by Wallace Wyss –
It wasn’t until I recently saw a finely kept up ’66 Olds Toronado that I figured out what Jaguar is doing with those block-long flat painted luxury concepts (Jaguar Type 00). I see that they are harkening back to when luxury cars were built to accommodate the hoi polloi.
The Toronado looked grand. Maybe not as good if there was a crowd of smaller cars around it but it looked majestic by itself. And then there’s the color. I just read a museum catalog about a car show in the St. Louis Art Museum where they combined 16 classic cars and some prewar Parisian art and fashion.
The thesis of the catalog, also published as a stand-alone book, was that when cars first came out in quantity in the 1920s, some Paris artists and fashion shapers thought, “Hey we can make these our own, we can personalize these things” and then they were off to a furious competition that ended in ’39 with the advent of WWII.
So what has happened here, y’see, in the modern day world, is that some car companies, like Tesla now and Jaguar to come, are saying “cars are objects d’art” – they deserve some customization and individualistic modifications. You want your car in flat pink? No problem! I can see owners of these cars ordering almost what you would call “bespoke” (but sold to more than one client) even changing their garments to match the car on special occasions, which happened in concours in pre-war Paris.
Jaguar Type 00
I still don’t like the flip-up-and-forward doos but that can be remedied before production. I’m regretful I hammered on the concept originally but now I understand Jaguar is creating a new luxury breed, albeit with an old respected name, one that will be responsive to their customer’s artistic tastes.
In other words, they can order custom touches to suit them, not as Detroit did for years with their attitude of “Here’s how we make ’em, take it or leave it.”
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
THE AUTHOR Wallace Wyss is a fine artist specializing in depicting classic cars in oil. For a list of work already finished write photojournaistpro@gmail.com
In its purest form, good taste simply represents a general consensus at any given moment of what is esteemed and acceptable, while ‘bad taste’ is everything that is not. It’s more subjective than objective.
Some people will pay big bucks for a banana taped to a blank canvas if it impresses those they are trying to emulate.
You can substitute “art” for “automobiles” and it reads the same.
Personally, a ’50s Scaglietti Ferrari, a Gull Wing Merc and a 550A Spider would fill my heart with joy just as my ’64 Morgan Plus 4 does and that’s the kind of Art/Auto that my taste covers–at least in my garage.
You have a different taste that encompass you, great, embrace it and bless you.
If the new Jag is what you desire to quench your passion, buy it and much success to you and Jag. I wish you both well.
If someone gave me that Jag, I wouldn’t be caught dead in it but, hey, that’s just me.
There is not enough rainbow warriors with the disposable cash to make this pig fly for very long.
Does it come in green? Asking for a friend. -Kato
Wallace,
The world already has enough “bespoke” luxury car companies: Rolls Royce, Bentley, Mayback/Mercedes Benz, and yes, even Porsche (I know an interior decorator who was flown out to Stuttgart on Porsche North America’s private plane on two different occasions to go to the Porsche factory to pick out custom colors and interiors for his client in New Jersey. P.S.- his client does not even have a driver’s license, but has 32 Porsches in a warehouse that he pays other people to maintain and drive for him).
There is no way a “reinvented Jaguar” is going to be able to compete in this market niche. Jaguar’s owner, Tata Motors, has incredibly deep pockets, and instead of walking down this road of no return, let them just introduce EXCITING car models that the mass market can purchase. That strategy is the only strategy will save them.
Glenn in Brooklyn, NY.
The moment I heard that they bought jaguar I knew the end was near. Your observation is 100% correct
Wally….. Very clever picking up on the design ques between the Toronado and the Jag.
Personally – I like the Toronado much better. It’s a more honest design than the Jag.
This is clearly a tragic example of inmates running the asylum. As a current and previous Jag owner, along with being someone deeply involved with the historical brand, the only reaction I had was that someone was making a joke. As a current owner, I received an email from Jaguar proudly announcing their plans for the future of the company and the brand. After watching the enclosed video and then going to the new website, I was deeply concerned that I had been hacked. Sadly, I was wrong. This may be the single worst example of a brand “refresh” in the history of branding. It is easily the next greatest example of a “Bud Light” branding mistake. Everyone associated with this “strategy” should be fired immediately and not allowed to work in branding ever again. There is NO way to sugar coat this. It’s flat out idiocy. Hey Jaguar – I hope you are listening.
Stepping off of my soap box now.
This is worse then Coke changing its recipe !
Think of Jaguar as a company that was building $1 million dollar homes
but then they would get old fast. So then they thought wait a minute, to build a$3 million dollar home doesn’t cost that much more in materials, , why not aim for a richer market? Sort of like the Olds Toronado in original form, it was a step award for Oldsmobile. Tesla would have had this market but Elon’s politics skewered their appeal so now Jaguar can go for the $100,000 plus EV luxury car market
Wallace
Elon didn’t found Tesla to build a super luxury car. If you look at everything he’s done, his projects seem to move the human race along.
SpaceX creating reusable rockets to eventually get to the moon and Mars (before China), inexpensively launching satellites and resupplying the space station. (rescuing stranded astronauts)
Neuralink whos primary goal is to restore autonomy and currently help people with quadriplegia
Starlink has helped a lot of people in difficult situations like Hurricane Helene and Ukraine where there is no cell phone coverage.
Boring company whos mission is solve traffic, enable rapid point-to-point transportation and transform cities.
Finally there’s Tesla. Elon has made Tecla’s technology open source so anyone can use it.
Do you really think he missed anything by not making a luxury automobile. Again his focus is elsewhere.